If he had already been a diamond or a prince when he walked on stage, the audience wouldn't have cheered half so loudly.In other words, Mr Potts had to be unprepossessing for his rags-to-riches story to have any power.
After all, they moderated their initial estimate of a decline in GDP of 0.4% in the third quarter to one of 0.2% at the latest count.But even if the official statistical picture for the last three months of 2009 does brighten, the prospects for the first quarter of 2010 are unprepossessing.
Mr Pombo has plenty of money (perhaps $1m still on hand, after a fund-raising visit last week by Dick Cheney); the district's farmers overwhelmingly support him; and, unlike Mr McCloskey, who had to find a temporary home in unprepossessing Lodi in order to run, he is a true son of the district.
Congee, juk or bubur (as it is known in China, Korea and Indonesia respectively) is one of the world's greatest breakfasts or comfort foods, despite its rather unprepossessing beige appearance.
His flair for attention-grabbing first surfaced at the Gate in London, an unprepossessing fringe theatre which Daldry turned into the capital's premier works-in-translation venue.
Some of the 1930s furniture is still there, but much has been replaced by unprepossessing office desks and chairs.
Saddled with an obscure name – hardly anyone could point to it on a map – Lanchester Polytechnic was an unprepossessing set of buildings sited in one of the least lovely of British cities.
Swingos' notorious reputation began in earnest when Elvis sashayed into the unprepossessing hotel having booked more than 100 rooms over three floors.
Ollie Dabbous leapt into the limelight as soon as his eponymous restaurant opened in an unprepossessing corner of the city in 2012.
Sceptics like to inveigh against the unprepossessing delta smelt, which George Radanovich, a Republican congressman, has called "a worthless little worm that needs to go the way of the dinosaur".
He is physically unprepossessing, has a drink problem and an inability to love the women he obsesses over and, in three cases, marries.
